CHOGM

I’m so impressed with those of you who are reading and posting notes on my blog! I guess I wont allow a whole week (or more) to post a blog!!

I am not sure if it has hit the media in Canada or the U.S.A yet, but in November there is a “HUGE” meeting here in Kampala. They are calling it CHOGM-short for Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting and just as it states all the government heads including the Queen will be in Kampala.

You can just imagine…there is a radio announcer that calls Kampala the “Pothole capital of the world” and there are literally potholes that could swallow a small car and I don’t even mean that there is a pothole here and there…NO WAY…you can get a full body workout just from riding in a car.

Now…Uganda is a developing country…one of the main reasons I chose to come here, so the main word is “DEVELOPING” therefore there are things that the government is improving on, but because of the Queen and the heads of governments (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc…) Kampala is getting cleaned up, tourist sites refurbished, potholes filled up (ONLY WHERE CHOGM will pass!), airport made over!!
One could actually trace the route of the Queen by examining the road!

I am not an expert, but I see a common theme and have actually heard Uganda’s commenting, so many share my next observation. When they fix things here its NOT a long term fix…I guess it’s cheaper to “patch” things up and then have it ruined after one big rain. When they fix the potholes or use tarmac (blacktop) they don’t use enough and then the problem resurfaces within a month. Do they not realize they are really spending more money in the long run?

Here is a better example. Makerere University had built a HUGE fence (I think it was made of cement bricks), so they hire a company that spends 2 billion shillings (I think that is 1 million USD) and after a month guess what happened after the rainstorm?
Yes! Humpty Dumpy had a great fall! But the people who were contracted probably got their money.

I even went to a school that Rotary is considering helping to fix up and the classroom floors were full of holes…they just don’t put enough cement on the floor…if they could stop skimming then they wouldn’t have to fix it or beg for help every 6 months…

Now, it’s easy for me to comment, but I can understand that the school can’t afford it, but the government? Come on…and to spend all this money on CHOGM…for who? some of the richest people in the world? Damn…let the government heads see how bad it really is and then maybe governments like Canada could team up with local organization and teach them how to fix things…the right way.

And one more little chestnut! They have spent, god only knows how much, on spraying for Malaria mosquitoes…. WHY? So the rich, anti-malaria affording government officials wont get bitten? What about the little children in the villages who do not even have SHELTER or EDUCATION? Government does NOT spray for them-the ones who need it the most.

One of the most comical and famous saying in Uganda right now is

“ ARE YOU READY FOR CHOGM?”


I am curious to see the commotion of this whole ordeal, but I think I will have to stay away from the city center…I am sure I will be shocked at the amount of security around Kampala at that time…and now, who knows I might just feel like I’m at home on base!!!
Maybe I can get out a picked sign and protest….or even better be one of those annoying people standing behind the reporters waving to you all at home!!